ANAHEIM, Calif. _ There will be one overriding question that'll surround the Anaheim Ducks among the smaller ones that will sit with them after a 4-0 spanking from the Edmonton Oilers heading into the All-Star break.
Can they beat good teams?
Their second-place spot in the Pacific Division race remains intact, though the Oilers closed within a point of that with Wednesday's one-sided win. And the Ducks (27-15-9) sit just one point behind division leader San Jose as it welcomes in Edmonton on Thursday.
But when it comes to facing teams that are in legitimate playoff position, the Ducks are failing those tests. Sure, they were 9-2-1 coming into Thursday but those wins were coming against the underachieving (Tampa Bay, Winnipeg, Dallas), mediocre (Detroit) and bad (Colorado, Arizona).
The losses? Two came in regulation to Minnesota, which is sitting on top of the Western Conference. Another came in overtime to St. Louis, which holds a wild-card spot. And now surging Edmonton, which shows no sign of fading away.
The Oilers (27-15-8), who are on a 6-0-1 run over their last seven games, got a strong 26-save effort from goalie Cam Talbot, who got his fourth shutout of the season and 15th of his career. And there was plenty of offensive support to back him.
Leon Draisatil continues to terrorize the Ducks. Lost in the shadow of young superstar Connor McDavid, Draisaitl scored twice and now has four goals against the Ducks in the teams' three meetings this season. The third-year forward also took over Edmonton's goal scoring lead with his 18th and 19th.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zack Kassian joined Draisaitl in a third-period scoring spree against Ducks goalie John Gibson, who played his first game since leaving Saturday's contest in Minnesota during the first period because of an upper-body injury.
Gibson stopped 19 of 23 shots as Ducks coach Randy Carlyle decided to turn back to him in a big divisional game rather than keep Jonathan Bernier in net and give the team's No. 1 goalie further rest. Bernier had 31 saves in a 3-2 win at Winnipeg on Monday.
